Presented in Spanish, these seminars focus on tools that are beneficial for dairy owners, managers and mid-managers.

Expo en Español is presented Wednesday through Friday during World Dairy Expo in Mendota 1 of the Exhibition Hall at 2 p.m. and includes a question-and-answer segment.

Sept. 29 at 2 p.m.
Five Practices to Strengthen a Diverse Farm Team
Presenter: Elsie González, M.Sc., Owner, Motiva Consulting

A culturally diverse farm team presents unique challenges that could, if not managed correctly, lead to decreased collaboration, misunderstandings and distractions from the goals. In this seminar, Elsie González, owner of Motiva Consulting, will discuss how to recognize the main cultural barriers at the farm, implement ways to communicate more effectively with employees and management, and will delve into ways to find common ground to build a more committed team.

Serving Wisconsin’s dairy industry for more than 10 years, in various university and government roles, Elsie González, M.Sc., now works with progressive dairy operations and their teams to develop consistent systems and train employees on the best animal care practices, work quality and efficiency.

Sept. 28 at 2 p.m.
How to Excel to a Leadership Position
Presenter: Santiago Ledwith, DVM, M.Sc., CEO and founder, Action Dairy

There is no way around it. In this job market, it can be more challenging than ever to find, train, motivate and retain employees. Thus, dairy operations must develop a culture that creates a positive and welcoming environment for all team members. Leaders create this environment, which goes hand-in-hand with employee engagement. To excel to a leadership position, you must intentionally establish effective daily leadership practices. This seminar will offer actions and ideas managers can execute on to shine as leaders and develop engaged teams.

For nearly 30 years, Santiago Ledwith has worked with livestock operations in South and North America. He is a certified specialist in leadership development training, executive coaching and organizational development and has been working on “the human factor” of livestock operations since 2006. Currently, Ledwith serves as a dairy consultant, coach, trainer and facilitator with his company Action Dairy and Talentum4.

Oct. 1 at 2 p.m.
Strategies to Have Engaged Employees and Reduce Turnover
Panelists: Santiago Ledwith, DVM, M.Sc., Action Dairy; Carolina Pinzón, M.Sc., Forte Dairy Consulting; Juan Quezada, Milk Source LLC

Investing in your employees can be one of the most successful strategies a dairy owner can implement. During this discussion, panelists will describe how to develop emotional intelligence to better lead your farm team, effectively communicate with employees during difficult situations and create successful training programs.

With decades of experience in the development and implementation of successful training programs, our panelists not only have a passion for the dairy cow but for people as well. Panelists include:

• Santiago Ledwith, DVM, M.Sc., CEO and founder at Action Dairy and Talentum4. In addition to being a veterinarian practitioner, Ledwith serves as a dairy consultant, executive coach, trainer and facilitator.

• Carolina Pinzón, M.Sc., owner and dairy consultant at Forte Dairy Consulting. Pinzón develops and conducts customized training programs, provides bilingual communication support and helps dairy farmers achieve order, clarity and functionality in their business and working teams.

• Juan Quezada, director of training and development at Milk Source LLC. Before joining the Milk Source LLC team, Quezada worked in stables in Texas, New Mexico, California and Wisconsin. He also worked as a consultant in stables in Denmark, Mexico, Sweden, Spain, Finland, Slovakia, Holland and Germany.